Cuomo Spent Nearly 40 Times More Than Teachout To Win Primary

Yesterday New York Governor Andrew Cuomo defeated Zephyr Teachout in the New York Democratic Gubernatorial Primary winning roughly 60% of the vote. About a third of voters supported Teachout and her running mate Tim Wu even though they had no major institutional backing or spent much on campaign ads.

According to the Washington Post, Cuomo used his war chest to outspend Teachout almost 40 to 1 with Cuomo spending $60.62 for each of his votes compared to Teachout spending $1.57.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York has been raising money for his reelection essentially since he took office in 2010. His campaign account has been in the eight figures since 2012; he’s been raising $5 million or more every six months like clockwork. In Tuesday’s New York Democratic gubernatorial primary, he won by a healthy margin, against a candidate who didn’t raise much at all. But it cost him...

In his final report to the New York Board of Elections, Cuomo reported having $30.5 million in the bank. Since 2011, he’s spent almost $20 million on his race; according to reports filed in 2014, he’s spent about $14 million of that over the last 12 months. Teachout, by contrast, raised about $600,000 and spent $283,000. (As of 11 days before the election; candidates report final numbers next week.)

Despite the small amount of money raised and spent Teachout was able to have a decent showing at the polls. The question is was this because Teachout was such a great candidate or because New Yorkers, even Democrats, are getting fed up with Governor Cuomo? Or maybe a bit of both.

Cuomo Spent Nearly 40 Times More Than Teachout To Win Primary

Yesterday New York Governor Andrew Cuomo defeated Zephyr Teachout in the New York Democratic Gubernatorial Primary winning roughly 60% of the vote. About a third of voters supported Teachout and her running mate Tim Wu even though they had no major institutional backing or spent much on campaign ads.

According to the Washington Post, Cuomo used his war chest to outspend Teachout almost 40 to 1 with Cuomo spending $60.62 for each of his votes compared to Teachout spending $1.57.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York has been raising money for his reelection essentially since he took office in 2010. His campaign account has been in the eight figures since 2012; he’s been raising $5 million or more every six months like clockwork. In Tuesday’s New York Democratic gubernatorial primary, he won by a healthy margin, against a candidate who didn’t raise much at all. But it cost him...

In his final report to the New York Board of Elections, Cuomo reported having $30.5 million in the bank. Since 2011, he’s spent almost $20 million on his race; according to reports filed in 2014, he’s spent about $14 million of that over the last 12 months. Teachout, by contrast, raised about $600,000 and spent $283,000. (As of 11 days before the election; candidates report final numbers next week.)

Despite the small amount of money raised and spent Teachout was able to have a decent showing at the polls. The question is was this because Teachout was such a great candidate or because New Yorkers, even Democrats, are getting fed up with Governor Cuomo? Or maybe a bit of both.

Jane Hamsher

Jane is the founder of Firedoglake.com. Her work has also appeared on the Huffington Post, Alternet and The American Prospect. She’s the author of the best selling book Killer Instinct and has produced such films Natural Born Killers and Permanent Midnight. She lives in Washington DC.Subscribe in a reader